Anastasiya’s note on her Fashion Summer

A story of a girl, who learnt that any summer can become a good summer.

“What matters is not where you are, but what you do”, – a thought that is a perfect embodiment of what I have been thinking for the last couple of weeks. I heard it during an interview with a designer (not in fashion) and now director of “Aestetik” – Maxi Shilov. I have always been one of those people, who are convinced that being somewhere else would change everything for the better. Summer has always been my escape time – I was so lucky that I had had a chance to travel since being 10 years old. For the most part, the reason for those trips was studying, but I did not care. I was ready to study even on school breaks in order to go on a trip.

Even when I became older, trips still remained my main source of joy and happiness. If there is one thing I cannot stop being jealous of that is travelling. YES, I honestly admit that I am jealous of those people, who can travel often. On the list of my goals, with writing as a main job, there is travelling on a regular basis. I do not dream of buying a big house or an expensive car, but of seeing every part of this world, of experiencing it with my heart and my soul, changing every single time thanks to these trips and then writing about it.

But, as with everything else, life is not that black and white. Yes, I do want to travel more than anything else. Yes, I used to think that summer is not summer, if there is no travelling involved. Yes, I had and I still have a very strong need to visit new places, explore them and feel so many emotions in order to recharge and be able to get back to work. Yes, I thought that it was better to have any trip than no trip at all. Most probably, I still think so. However, after analyzing everything I came to a very painful conclusion – this fashion summer of mine will be spent at the very same spot – in Kiev, Ukraine, where I am currently based. No trip is possible this year for me, and there is nothing I can do about it. Sounds sad, very sad, but guess what, it actually is not!

Well, at first I was naturally very upset and mad. I thought that I deserved a vacation, a trip, a fresh portion of inspiration, a source of new stories to share. Of course, I did, but what could I do? My only solution was to change my attitude towards the situation, if I could not affect the situation itself. And so I did! I dived into reading and writing more, I found inspiration on paper pages and online. I have finally realized that it could be enough for now; that not going on a summer vacation did not mean not doing it ever again. Yes, I am an absolutist sometimes. I often make a mistake by thinking that if I cannot achieve something right now, I will never be able to, but this is so-o-o-o wrong. If it does not work out today, I have every day afterwards to work harder and eventually make it happen. On top of that, it depends on me only, whether I will enjoy each day along the way instead of constantly feeling miserable and disappointed.

So, what are my fashion summer plans this year? They are simple, but (honestly) exciting – I am planning to work hard and a lot. At the same time, I am planning to enjoy every single day by doing little things that make me happy, like reading books, buying new magazines, doing yoga, eating a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits, going to the park and to the cinema and watching great movies at home, as well as spending time with those, who inspire and motivate me, WRITING. Isn’t that enough? It is indeed, when you think clearly. I am proud of myself to having finally realized it, that yes, it really is the truth – what you do is so much more important than where you are. Don`t you ever forget about it. And, believe me, there is a lot of travelling waiting ahead, kid.